Closed Old Acquaintances (Valerius)

[Tanjun Vorot]

17th Fall, 513 AV A small girl, looking roughly the age of fourteen years old, was trudging along the streets of the noble's district. There were far less people wandering around here. Right now she was just exploring the city.... again. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. It was probably because she couldn't really pay for her food anymore. "This neighborhood looks so fancy. Do they have any good food around here?", she wondered inside of her mind. "I'm getting kinda hungry." She kept wandering around. Not a single person seemed to care about her. Well... who would when a short girl, carrying around a large glaive, was gazing around like she was. It didn't take long, actually no more then a couple dozen chimes, before he was bored. "There's no fun here. Why aren't there any outsiders. I wanna play with 'em.", she grumbled. Why was this quarter so...... boring. There was nothing going on. No people tripping or anything. Tanjun sighed. Perhaps it was best to go back to her apartment. She wanted pocket money, but her parents were gone. Who was she gonna mooch of now? These rich people didn't seem to care about her, so what was left for her? Work!? No way was she gonna do some shyke boring job. She just slouched against a building at the side of some plaza thingy. She didn't really know, nor care where she was, but she wanted to at least have some fun today.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius Nitrozian was in a comparatively good mood for a change. He was just on his way to the canal and his family’s personal ravosala. He had heard that a new shipment of exotic slaves had arrived at the slave market, and he wanted to check them out. Maybe he’d buy a companion for Tuuli and Melenna or a gift for one of the members of his family. Of course he was not trudging along the streets. He was walking slowly, with his head held high, as if he owned Ravok. He was dressed in his best clothes and just looked as if he mattered. He only looked at the people that he passed by occasionally. Common citizens and outsiders were of no interest to him. He only cared about the members of his own family and the few business associates that he had. She made him stop for a moment though. His eyes widened a fraction as he noticed the girl that leaned against a nearby wall. She looked familiar with her blue eyes and red-brown hair. He knew her. The had met a couple of seasons ago. She had been impossibly rude, but she had also turned out to be quite skilled at hurting others. He came closer. „Miss Vorot“, he spoke. „I haven’t seen you in a while. I remember that I hired you to help me against my family’s enemies, and then, one day, you were simply gone. I don’t remember that you officially resigned from your job. Tell me, where have you been?“ She didn’t look good. She looked hungry and thirsty and tired, and that big weapon she used to carry around – what had it been? A glaive? – wasn’t there either. It seemed as if she had suffered some bad luck recently.

[Tanjun Vorot]

The girl's stomach grumbled. Man what was she hungry. She couldn't exactly remember her last meal, even if it was only the day before yesterday. It seemed that trivial things, and sometimes larger events, just slipped from her mind. Well... her memory hadn't been good for quite a while now, but that had it's advantages. For instance, bad memories didn't really stick to her, so she could just stay carefree. But then again, the bad part was that good memories didn't stick either. And then some random.... rich guy.... talked to her. Who was he? What was he talkin' about? He hired her for what? Something scratched her mind for only a split of a tick, yet was suppressed immediately. And that last question.... she couldn't answer at all. Her memory was fuzzy, just like it had been for the past seasons. "May I ask who you are? Where do you know me from?", she asked as she cocked her head. And then her stomach growled rather loud. "And could you please not ask for my past, I don't remember much of it.", she said. He got on her nerves rather easily, but right now she didn't have Zanbatou with her, so she couldn't whack him. She felt rather insecure without it. Why did she have to leave it at home today of all days? But there was no helping it. She could only pout and puff her cheeks right now. It might work... hopefully.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

The girl looked truly pitiful, and he could hear her stomach grumble. For a moment Valerius wondered if he should really talk to her or just ignore her and move on. He usually didn’t associate with people like her, people that were in such a state, but on the other hand she had been his employee at one point. He had a certain duty to her, besides he wanted to know what had happened to her. And thus he crossed his arms over his chest and decided to stay. „You know me“, he replied somewhat coolly. „I used to be your employer. My name is Valerius Nitrozian. We met in a tavern for the first time, and somehow you convinced me to hire you. You claimed to be rather skilled at torturing people.“ He wondered if she had really lost her memory or just pretended that she couldn’t remember anything in order to escape punishment. Most employers didn’t appreciate it after all if their employee just disappeared. Her statement that he shouldn’t ask for her past made him look at her questioningly. „Are you not interested in your life, Miss Vorot?“ he wanted to know. „Most people would want to recover their memory. What makes you different? Was your past so bad?“ What had happened to her – and should he really care? She had been rather skilled at torturing people, but so were countless others in Ravok. He didn’t need her, but still, it wasn’t every day that a former employee of his showed up in the Nitrozian Plaza in such a state. „If you tell me what happened, Miss Vorot, I could be persuaded to give you a warm meal“, he told her. „I can hear your stomach growl. Surely you must be very hungry.“

[Tanjun Vorot]

Tanjun had a puzzled look on her face. She really didn't know him. His statement about her being skilled in torturing people was true in a sense, but she still couldn't prolong people's lives long enough. She wanted to get better, so she could have more fun. She thought really hard, but her fuzzy memory just didn't cooperate. She could remember her life before her twelfth winter well, but after that it was hazy. Well... she was a little interested, but she didn't want to deal with the trouble of remembering it. She was rather lazy like that, but then again, which kid would want to trouble themselves over something they didn't need? "I don't really mind either, but I don't want the hassle. Besides, why would I wanna remember? It's much more fun to just play with people.", she said as she folded her hands behind her backs and rolled back and forth on her feet. She would love to tell him if it was in exchange for a meal.... if she remembered it. Oh wait, she still has that nonsense letter. But where'd she leave it? Was it back at home? "Well.. I really wanna have that meal, but I don't remember. All I have is some weird letter about my brother, but.... he died last year. So I don't know why it tells me that he died in the future.", she explained. "Is that even possible? Receiving a letter from the future?"

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„Playing with people can be fun“, Valerius coolly replied. „But to really be able to enjoy playing with people you need to be aware of yourself and the world around you – truly aware.“ He wondered if she understood that. She didn’t seem to be able to stand still, and judging by the tone in which she spoke her mind seemed to have been damaged. He didn’t like mentally defective people, although there were some in this world that would call him defective as well. They were unpredictable, and he didn’t know how to deal with the unpredictable. As she claimed to have received a letter from the future, he looked at her doubtfully. It seemed as if Miss Vorot was more than just a little defective, but then again, there were some people that were rumoured to have such skills, that suspended the laws of time of space. „I know about your brother, Miss Vorot“, he informed her. „You told me about him when we first met. You said that he was doing an important job, that he was escorting a caravan and that you hadn’t seen him in a year.“ He furrowed his brow as he reconsidered her words. „You claim to have lost your memory, and yet you know that your brother has died. How can that be?“ „As for receiving a letter from the future …“ He paused for a moment and looked at her before he continued. „There are things going on in this world that are beyond our understanding. It may be possible, although I don’t understand why you would receive a letter from the future.“ Tanjun Vorot might have some potential, but as far as Valerius was concerned she wasn’t in any way special. There were hundreds, thousands of people like her. “As for that meal, come with me. If you promise to pull yourself together, I will let you into my house for a bell or two. I’m trying to understand. Your situation doesn’t make any sense to me.“ He didn’t like it when things didn’t make any sense. He wanted to find out if there was some kind of logic behind it after all, if there was more to it than met the eye. That was the sole reason why he was trying to be halfway polite to her and help her. He didn’t care about poor people, about insane people that were hungry and thirsty and quite obviously suffering.

[Tanjun Vorot]

This guy understood how fun it was to play with people. He really did apparently. Even though the girl didn't get what he said at all, she considered him a friend. She started to grin widely at him, rather happy. If she wasn't so hungry, then she would've started to jump up and down. Not many people understood her drive to hurt others, let alone in the way she was doing it. They thought she was just a lunatic, crazy and should be killed. But the words of Valerius made her think about her brother a little. She's always had respect for him and she's thankful for his gift, but he left before her twelfth birthday. Where he went, he hadn't said. So how could she have spoken to anyone else about it? She hadn't seen him in a long while, that was true. But she just assumed he was dead. After all, brother said he would be back in two seasons. "I don't know where he went. I don't really care to be honest. I like brother, but whatever he does is his problem.", she said. "He left before my twelfth birthday, tho he left a gift, so whatever he does is his problem." She puffed her cheeks at that last remark. However, the promise of food immediately made her forget about him. "Jay, food! I'll try to do what you want mister.", she said as she gave him a rather big smile. "We could drop by my house later, so I could give you the letter. Maybe you can figure it out. I just don't understand it." She skipped alongside Valerius, sometimes a little faster, sometimes slower. But never did she stop smiling. She was getting food, and food was good.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

As Tanjun grinned widely at him, Valerius frowned. He didn’t like it if people grinned at him. Why was the girl grinning at him anyway? She looked half starved. She didn’t have any reason to grin. Had she lost her mind? He frowned harder. Valerius Nitrozian definitely wasn’t happy at the moment, but then again he rarely was. „When we last met, Miss Vorot“, he informed her. „You seemed to care about your brother a lot.“ In fact she had cared about him so much that he hadn’t been able to help but wonder if they were in some form of incestuous relationship. „You were very worried about him. What changed?“ Normally Valerius tried to control his emotions, but as she exclaimed, „Jay, food!“ his eyes widened, and he just stared at her. How old was she? Ten? Did he really want to let her into his house? Why in Rhysol’s name was she so hyperactive? He almost couldn’t stand it. He raised his hand, a sign that she was supposed to stop. „Please, Miss Vorot, compose yourself! I will give you food, and I will take a look at the so called letter from the future, but only if you stop grinning and acting like a child. You weren’t quite as immature last time!“ If Tanjun calmed down a little and didn’t threaten to hurt him as she had done before her mysterious disappearance, Valerius would proceed to lead her to the Nitrozian Estate. He walked through the door first. Normally he let the woman go first as he was a gentleman and had good manners, but she definitely wasn’t a lady, and thus it wasn’t necessary. The guards stared at him a little as they saw who was with him. Valerius normally wasn’t the kind of man that brought in beggars from the streets. He was more likely to hand them to the Ebonstryfe or let them starve to death. Valerius ignored them and called for his personal slave. Tuuli was a human, about nineteen, with dark skin and even darker hair, and she was very pretty. „Tuuli, Miss Vorot is a former employee of mine. She has suffered some bad luck recently. I want you to serve her a warm meal – in the kitchen.“ No matter how mysterious the situation was, he wouldn’t let her into his suite or even the dining room. She didn’t look entirely clean. „Follow me, Miss Vorot“, he said as he turned to the former torturer, hoping that she would behave. Since Tanjun didn’t remember her previous meetings with Valerius, it would seem to her as if she saw the Nitrozian Estate for the first time. Everything in the house was expensive, and very clean, and the slaves that she could see looked better than some of the free citizens of Ravok.

[Tanjun Vorot]

Having Valerius chide the girl, did get her a little angry, but she just behaved. If he was going to give her food, it was best to just listen. While following him, she thought about his question. They met before apparently and she was apparently very worried about her brother. Why would she be? It was his business where he wanted to go, so it was best not to nose into it. Her brother would handle himself. "I don't know about that. I know brother is kind and so, but... I don't really care where he goes. Why would I?", she returned the question rather innocent. As she got led into some sort of very big house with guards in front, the girl couldn't keep herself from gawking around. Everything was so pretty and clean.... and not torn up. This made her a little embarrassed about her own room, which was a little dirty, but most of all... all torn up from her practicing her glaive. "Maybe I should clean up again, once I get home. I don't want him to think I'm a tramp or so.", she thought to herself. When Valerius called for his personal slave, Tanjun couldn't help but stare at her. "Wuahhh, so pretty.", she blurted out. But before she darted over to the slave, to look at her from all sides, she remembered she should behave. After all... there was nothing, except the promise of fun, that would beat a promise of food. On top of that, she was allowed to take a look in the kitchen of a rich place! She never really understood why she loved cooking so much, but... it always ended up in a disaster. She should just get some training in it probably. "Ehm... Mister Nitrozian? I wanted to thank you for giving me food up front. You are actually the first person to even speak to me like this.", she said rather shyly. The girl really wanted to look good in Valerius' eyes right now, but she couldn't when she was looking like this. Her clothes were slightly torn up and had a few blood stains from her last victim on them, not to mention that she was even skinnier then the last time they had met. "If you want me to do something for you... just say it.", she then said rather soft. Children always wanted to look good in the eyes of people they cared about and Tanjun, while mentally unstable and most definitely insane, was no exception.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„I’m glad that you have some manners“, Valerius replied as Tanjun thanked him for the food. „Your gratitude is very much appreciated.“ With that he opened the kitchen door for her. Even the kitchen in the Nitrozian Estate was spotless. Valerius gestured for Tanjun to sit down at a wooden table where the slaves normally ate and ordered Tuuli to bring her something to eat. Tuuli briefly talked to the cook – who eyed Tanjun as if he didn’t really want her in his kitchen – and then she returned to the table with a tray. She had brought a bowl of hot vegetable soup, a beef steak, some vegetables and a glass of water. „I hope that the food is alright, Miss Vorot“, Valerius remarked. He didn’t sit down at the table, but remained standing, arms crossed over his chest. He wasn’t entirely comfortable in this situation. „There is something that you could do for me. After you have eaten, you could let Tuuli take you to the bathroom to get cleaned up.“ He looked at her clothes that were torn and seemed to have a few bloodstains on them and made a face. „I would also like to give you a clean dress to wear. It will reflect badly on you – and me – if people see you like that. And afterwards I want you to tell me as much about yourself as you remember and give me that letter Is that acceptable, Miss Vorot?“ He looked at her as if he didn’t really expect her to say „no“. Valerius Nitrozian was used to people doing exactly what he said.